Receive the latest ward-room updates in your inbox

Seeing Red: Republicans Who Could Reshape Illinois Politics

But he finally released his tax returns today. It turns out that his family has suffered from the Great Recession, tumbling from the upper class to the upper-middle class. And it’s also taught him to understand the pain of Illinoisans who’ve lost their jobs, because he’s had to lay off dozens of Illinoisans himself.

In 2004 and 2005, Brady was a truly wealthy man, earning over $500,000 a year. As late as 2007, he was still doing well enough to light cigars with hundred dollar bills. His income that year was $372,355.

PHOTOS: Blagojevich Cronies

But in 2008 -- the year Wall Street melted down -- Brady actually lost $116,679.

Of course, part of that income was from taxpayer dollars that went to pay his official salary. Which means Brady, who's been railing about overburdened taxpayers, hasn't been burdened along with them.

Line Up: Chicago Mayoral Hopefuls

Brady rallied in 2009, claiming an income of $119,900, thanks to an IRS provision that allows small businesses to sell assets.

Over the last five years, the housing market in Illinois has dropped 83 percent. As a result, Brady was forced to lay off over half the workers in his realty business, and many of the 34 workers in his construction business.

“My family has been blessed, and while the down years have been hard to swallow personally, what has really pained us is the difficulty these times brought to our extended family -- the men and women who we were lucky enough to have with our firm,” Brady said in a press release.

Hmm. Sounds a lot like the tribulations a certain Democratic Senate candidate's been facing - -but so far, Brady's gotten away with it.

“With private sector businesses like ours, there are good years and bad years,” he added. “We’re optimistic and know it will work out in the end, but for many workers, it all means a lot of struggle. We’ve had to make the tough decisions and are coming through all right. We need to do the same thing for state government.”

Brady is running for governor because it was the Illinois Democrats’ fault that the housing market collapsed and he had to let his workers go.

“The people who were part of our company suffered the effects of a state with a job-killing environment,” he said “As governor, I’ll work to end the corruption and old politics that hurts so many people.”

So vote for Bill Brady, so he never has to fire another worker or live on less than $500,000 a year again.